    [House Report 104-469]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

    104th Congress                                            Rept. 104-469
                            HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

     2d Session                                                      Part 4
    _______________________________________________________________________

          IMMIGRATION IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST ACT OF 1995; TEMPORARY
                     AGRICULTURAL WORKER AMENDMENTS OF 1996
                                    _______

                     March 21, 1996.--Ordered to be printed

    _______________________________________________________________________

    Mr. Roberts, from the Committee on Agriculture, submitted the following

                      S U P P L E M E N T A L R E P O R T

                            [To accompany H.R. 2202]

        This supplemental report contains the Congressional Budget
    Office cost estimate on H.R. 2202, as amended by the Committee
    on Agriculture, that adds a new subtitle B to title VIII, the
    Temporary Agricultural Worker Amendments of 1996, and relevant
    conforming amendment thereto.
        The Congressional Budget Office cost estimate was not
    available to be included in the report submitted by the
    Committee on Agriculture on March 8, 1996 (H. Rept. 104-469,
    Part 3), recommending passage of the bill, as amended, by the
    House.

                                         U.S. Congress,
                                   Congressional Budget Office,
                                        Washington, DC, March 18, 1996.
    Hon. Pat Roberts,
    Chairman, Committee on Agriculture,
    House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
        Dear Mr. Chairman. The Congressional Budget Office has
    prepared the enclosed intergovernmental mandates cost estimate
    for the amendment of the Committee on Agriculture to H.R. 2202,
    the Temporary Agricultural Worker Amendments of 1996.
        This bill would impose intergovernmental mandates, as
    defined in Public Law 104-4, but would impose no private sector
    mandates.
        The bill would affect revenues and direct spending of the
    federal government, and estimates of those effects have
    previously been provided to the committee.
        If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
    pleased to provide them.
                Sincerely,
                                             June E. O'Neill, Director.

        Congressional Budget Office Estimated Cost of Intergovernmental
                                    Mandates

        1. Bill number: Amendment of the Committee on Agriculture
    to H.R. 2202
        2. Bill title: Temporary Agricultural Worker Amendments of
    1996
        3. Bill status: As ordered reported by the House Committee
    on Agriculture on March 8, 1996.
        4. Bill purpose: The Temporary Agricultural Worker
    Amendments of 1996 would create a temporary agricultural worker
    classification designated H-2B (in reference to its subsection
    designation in title 8) and establish requirements for
    employers who wish to hire aliens under that provision.
        5. Intergovernmental mandates contained in bill: The
    amendments would require state employment security agencies
    (SESAs) to review affidavits filed by the prospective
    employers, maintain files of those documents for a limited
    period of time, and provide employers with proof of filing.
        6. Estimated direct costs to State, local, and tribal
    governments: (a) Is the $50 Million Threshold Exceeded? No. (b)
    Total Direct Costs of Mandates: CBO estimates that these
    mandates would impose minimal direct cost on state, local, and
    tribal governments. (c) Estimate of Necessary Budget Authority:
    Not applicable.
        7. Basis of estimate: This estimate is based on information
    provided by state employment security officials in the states
    likely to be significantly affected by this legislation. CBO
    anticipates that between 25,000 and 100,000 workers would
    participate in the H-2B program each year.
        We expect that most affidavits filed by employers would
    cover more than one alien employee and that the average cost of
    processing and filing each affidavit would be between $15 and
    $20. We therefore estimate that the direct costs of
    implementing these requirements would total less than $500,000
    annually. Furthermore, because SESAs currently review and file
    similar documents under other alien worker classification
    provisions, existing procedures could be used to fulfill the
    requirements of this amendment, thereby minimizing additional
    costs.
        Finally, the costs of SESAs are financed with federal funds
    through the Department of Labor. Therefore, we expect that any
    additional responsibilities would ultimately be funded by the
    federal government.
        8. Appropriation or other federal financial assistance
    provided in bill to cover mandate costs: None.
        9. Other impacts on State, local, and tribal governments:
    None.
        10. Previous CBO estimate: None.
        11. Estimate prepared by: Leo Lex.
        12. Estimate approved by:
                                             Robert A. Sunshine
                                              (For Paul N. Van deWater,
                                   Assistant Director for Budget Analysis).
                                         U.S. Congress,
                                   Congressional Budget Office,
                                        Washington, DC, March 21, 1996.
    Hon. Pat Roberts,
    Chairman, Committee on Agriculture,
    House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
        Dear Mr. Chairman. The Congressional Budget Office has
    reviewed H.R. 2202, the Immigration in the National Interest
    Act of 1995, as reported by the House Committee on Agriculture
    on March 8, 1996. The Agriculture Committee added to title VIII
    of the bill a subtitle B, which would establish a new
    nonimmigrant category for temporary agricultural workers. This
    new program, called the H-2B program, would be authorized
    through 1999 and would be limited to no more than 250,000
    workers in the first year and smaller numbers in subsequent
    years.
        Attached is a table summarizing the estimated spending and
    revenue effects of the Agriculture Committee's version of H.R.
    2202. The Agriculture Committee's amendment would affect the
    federal budget in three ways: (1) The government would receive
    additional revenues totaling about $94 million over the 1997-
    2000 period because employers of H-2B aliens would have to pay
    an amount equivalent to the federal tax that employers are
    obligated to pay under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA)
    and the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA). These
    payments would total 8.45 percent of taxable earnings.
        (2) The government would spend about $67 million on
    administrative expenses to operate the H-2B program and on
    emergency medical services provided to H-2B aliens.
        (3) The government would lose about $117 million in
    revenues over the 1997-2000 period because the H-2B aliens
    would displace illegal aliens whose wages would be subject to
    FUTA and FICA taxes. About $90 million of the loss applies to
    Social Security taxes that are recorded as off-budget receipts.
        In aggregate, therefore, CBO estimates that creating the
    new nonimmigrant category would result in a loss of revenue of
    $23 million and an increase in direct spending of $67 million
    over the 1996-2000 period.
        CBO prepared an intergovernmental mandate statement for
    this legislation on March 18, 1996. The bill would impose no
    private sector mandates as defined in Public Law 104-4.
        If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
    pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contacts are Mark
    Grabowicz, and, for revenues, Peter Ricov.
                Sincerely,
                                             June E. O'Neill, Director.

             ESTIMATED FEDERAL BUDGETARY IMPACT OF H.R. 2202, AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
                                        [By fiscal year, in millions of dollars]
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            1996       1997       1998       1999       2000       2001       2002
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATIONS ACTION
    Authorizations:
        Estimated Authorizations Level.        129        699        774        856        960        978        996
        Estimated Outlays..............          0        532        637        940        994        956        976

                                             MANDATORY SPENDING AND RECEIPTS
    Revenues:
        New Criminal Fines and
         Forfeiture....................          0      (\1\)      (\1\)      (\1\)      (\1\)      (\1\)      (\1\)
        Temporary Agricultural Workers
         (Off-Budget)..................          0        -10        -22        -48        -10          0          0
        Temporary Agricultural Workers
         (On-Budget)...................          0          9         16         33          9          0          0
        Earned Income Tax Credit.......          0         14         13         12         13         13         13
                                        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Change in Revenues.........          0         13          7         -3         12         13         13
                (Off-Budget)...........          0        -10        -22        -48        -10          0          0
                (On-Budget)............          0         23         29         45         22         13         13
    Direct Spending:
        New Criminal Fines and
         Forfeiture....................          0      (\1\)      (\1\)      (\1\)      (\1\)      (\1\)      (\1\)
        Immigration Enforcement Account          0      (\1\)      (\1\)      (\1\)      (\1\)      (\1\)      (\1\)
        Supplemental Security Income...          0        -10        -80       -160       -260       -370       -670
        Food Stamps....................          0          0        -15        -45       -100       -170       -250
        Family Support.................          0         -1        -13        -23        -48        -63        -78
        Medicaid.......................          0         -5       -110       -240       -390       -570       -830
        Federal Employee Retirement....          0          2          4          2          0          0          0
        Temporary Agricultural Workers.          0         10         19         36          2          0          0
        Earned Income Tax Credit.......          0       -216       -214       -218       -222       -224       -229
                                        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Change in Direct Spending
             Outlays...................          0       -220       -409       -648     -1,018     -1,397     -2,057
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ Less than $500,000.